Transmission pulse oximetry has long been used in the clinical setting to measure the oxgenation of blood. (See, T. L. Rusch et al, Computers in Biology and Medicine, 26, 143-159, (1996)). In a typical transmission pulse oximetry, two light emitting diodes (LEDs) with peak wavelengths of 660 nm and 940 nm are shone through one side of a finger, and the transmitted light is received via a photodetector positioned on the other side of the finger. The first LED has peak absorption for oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin). The second LED has peak absorption for deoxygenated hemoglobin (reduced hemoglobin or deoxyhemoglobin). As the heart beats, the time varying absorbance signal is recorded. The transmitted light will obey the Beers-Lambert law (Beers law) given by:Itrans=Iine−DCα,where: Itrans is the intensity of the transmitted light, Iin is the intensity of initial light, D is the distance the light travels, C is the concentration of the solution, and α is the absorption cross-section of the absorbing species. FIG. 1 graphically illustrates a typical transmission pulse oximetry signal.
In transmission pulse oximetry, hemoglobin is assumed to be composed of two substances: oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin. Since both species have different absorption cross-sections at the two differing wavelengths, the percentage of each substance in the blood can be calculated.
There are, however, several drawbacks to transmission pulse oximetry. First, it can only be applied to parts of the body where the optical signal can pass from one side of a body part to another side (such as through a finger on an adult, or through a foot on a newborn). Thus, the technique is limited to measuring oxygen saturation at the extremities. In the case of many major surgeries or in the case of trauma, the saturation of blood in the extremities does not reflect the saturation of oxygen at major organs such as the brain. Second, because transmission pulse oximetry relies on transmission through extremities, bright lights can saturate the detector so that the LED signals cannot be read. Third, the technique relies upon the pulsatile signal generated by the beating of the heart. If the blood profusion is low, the pulsatile signal will be small in relation to a baseline DC signal, which can lead to errors in the calculation of the oxygen saturation. Fourth, because the path lengths of the optical signals are not known in pulse transmission oximetry, only the oxygen saturation, and not the actual oxygen level of the blood, can be measured. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for measuring the oxygenation of blood-profused biological tissue.